1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat structure for a vehicle, such as a motorcycle, and to a vehicle incorporating the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a seat structure including a seat arranged rearwardly of a fuel tank mounted on a vehicle body frame, and the seat including a cushion member supported on a bottom plate secured to the vehicle body frame and the fuel tank, and to a vehicle incorporating the same.
2. Description of the Background Art
There is known seat structure for a vehicle, such as a motorcycle, in which a front portion of a seat arranged rearwardly of a fuel tank extends to an upper surface of a rear portion of the fuel tank. Such seat structure is provided for securing a sitting surface of the seat by taking a case where a rider sits on a front side of the seat during operating a vehicle, such as an off-road vehicle.
In general, a seat for a vehicle includes: a bottom plate, a cushion member placed on the bottom plate so as to cover the bottom plate from above, and a surface skin (cover) which covers the cushion member. An example of such seat for a vehicle is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Document JP-B-8-25489.
However, in the above-mentioned related art (including the disclosure of the Japanese Patent Document JP-B-8-25489), it is necessary to reduce a thickness of the cushion member on a forwardly extending front end portion of the bottom plate of the seat. Accordingly, there exists a drawback that the motorcycle of the related art, during operation thereof, cannot provide a cushion performance at the front end portion of the seat. In order to overcome with such a situation, it may be possible to increase a thickness of the cushion member at the front end portion of the seat. In this case, however, the continuity of the seat structure cannot be ensured in a region ranging from the fuel tank to the seat.
The present invention has been made to overcome such drawbacks of the existing seat structure for a vehicle. Accordingly, it is one of the objects of the present invention to provide the seat structure for a vehicle which ensures desirable cushion performance even when a sitting position of an operator of the vehicle is at a front portion of the seat.